This invention relates to methods used for the protection against loss of equipment suspended on wire ropes, particularly as used in the swabbing of oil and gas wells.
Swabbing tools and other downhole equipment are often lowered into wells using wire ropes. The wire ropes suffer wear from chaffing on the wellbore and other equipment, corrosion from corrosive downhole fluids and destruction due to H2S embrittlement. The wire ropes frequently break due to the wear and corrosion. In a reasonably sized swabbing unit fleet, one swabbing tool can be lost downhole each week. Thus, there is a need for protecting against loss of downhole equipment. The present invention is intended to meet that need.